Kerry says US has lost its "moral authority"

[gottaB]

Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, telling a hometown crowd of 1,200 last night that his "fighting mood" would drive him to victory in November, extended his criticism of President Bush's handling of Iraq to say that America had lost its "moral authority" as a global peacekeeper, and singled out the "genocide" in Darfur as a crisis where the United States had been unable to help.

Kerry told his Boston Convention Center audience, gathered for a $2.5 million fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee, that Bush had made "a mess" out of a range of issues, including health care, school management, and "America's ability to lead the world, as we ought to be in a place like Darfur, in Sudan -- where genocide is taking place, but we're not able to move because we're bogged down as we are in Iraq and we've lost our moral authority."

Previously Kerry has urged the Bush administration to declare a genocide in the war-torn Darfur region, where Arab militias have been killing villagers and displacing 1 million of them; he has not made the link to Iraq as explicitly before. Secretary of State Colin Powell recently said that the deaths in Darfur were genocide.

Kerry, in unusually strong terms, also blamed Bush for US military casualties in Iraq, which exceeded 1,000 this month.

Kerry Says US has Lost its Moral Authority....

[Laughing Mirror]

1. US as a "global peacekeeper" is a handy myth

I don't believe that we have any moral authority to lose.

[gottaB]

2. I disagree

And note with sadness that although both houses of Congress, the State Department, and the White House all agree that a genocide has been unfolding in Sudan, the reporter still felt the need to enclose the word "genocide" in quotes.

The US will always have detractors and enemies in the world. However, since the illegal invasion of Iraq under false pretexts, and the revelation that US forces, under direction from the White House and the Pentagon, have committed horrible crimes of war in Iraq, global sentiment has turned sharply against the US, and even its friends regard it with skepticism and perhaps embarassment.

At the present moment the case for the entire history of US foreign policy being wicked evil or at best amoral may seem convincing. I beleive that is a distorted view. We could get into particulars, but I must admit that, even in my own thinking, the mess in Iraq overshadows every US foreign policy initiative.

[Laughing Mirror]

6. I don't think the world ever looked to US for moral authority

The world cowered at the US's own atrocities and genocides because US was perceived as being all-powerful. Iraq, however, I think exposes the myth. I think it's the first time the world sees how the debt-ridden US, in spite of all the tanks and bombers and bravado, is in fact weak and vulnerable. The world, because of Iraq, feels more confident now in speaking up against bad US policies, which have become more transparent because our gloating, vain, corrupt, greedy rulers are quite up-front and open about their policies and they no longer try to hide them as our past more benign rulers have done.

On edit: One more thing. I remember world sentiment turning against US before invasion began. Remember the UN? Remember the 10 million people all across the world who went out into the streets on February 15, 2003 to say No, before the invasion actually began?

[are_we_united_yet]

7. I think you have

made a valuable observation. This administration has done great harm to the invincible image we may have had. The focus on military might and the downplaying of diplomacy was a cataclysmic disaster of which we will not recover from for quite a while.

If I were GW and DC, I'd be ashamed of this presidency.

[Mr_Spock]

8. I agree, even shame isn't strong enough to stop the impending disaster

if we don't change course. We MUST get rid of this madman. He will cost us a lot more that 1032 lives and $200,000,000,000 if we don't stop him.

[Scootman78]

3. Statements like this is what the GOP feeds off of

I can see it now, George Bush on Monday will be back at it, using Kerry's honest words against him by taking them out of context (that's the Republican way! Ain't it cute?). George will say that because Kerry questions America's moral authority, he obviously doesn't care about America.

Saying hideous statements like this will allow Bush to ignore what Kerry actually said and thus, he believes even further he did nothing wrong. His sheep then believe he is non-faulty and thus, all is right with the world. They can all go to sleep on their $5,000 beds, dreaming about how they're going to use those extra tax credits they received from the government over the year.

Meanwhile, somewhere in America, a single mother of two sits alone on the doorsteps of her house, crying. She has just lost her job of 10 years and now must try to find other means of supporting her kids. Somewhere else, a wife receives a phone call from her husband who is over in Iraq. She is grateful that he is still alive and asks when he will be returning home because he was supposed to be home next week. He tells her that because George Bush doesn't want to have any offensive ground attacks before the election, he might not be home until after Christmas.

The next day, George W. Bush is at it again, touting his dictatorship. One of his aides hears about two more deaths happening in Iraq, but under explicit orders, cannot tell George W.about it. George W. doesn't like bad news, its better for him to ignore it. He crumples up the piece of paper and gazes admirably towards the stage where Bush is at, telling his sheep that when Kerry criticizes George W., Kerry criticizes America.


I do not see how any sane, intelligent, caring person could ever think they could put up with 4 more years of this...well...crap (crap is too nice a word, I know).

[gottaB]

4. Hi, Scootman78. Yeah, could be a weakness

Or it could be a setup for a sucker punch. Kerry's been hammering on Bush's character flaws lately. What hasn't he been talking about? Hmmm. If Bush falls for it, Kerry will pummel him. Kerry wants the debate on foreign policy, and he wants to put Bush in the position of either admitting that his leadership has been morally depraved, or proving himself to be a liar.

Well, I could be wrong, and even if I'm not it's the kind of thing that could prompt a jingoistic backlash.

[Mr_Spock]

9. Yes, I agree - this is a possible set-up for a sucker punch. Bush has

become almost predictable in his use of Kerry's language (strength) against him. It is the defining characteristic of the Rove technique. In this case though, Kerry wants him to "bring it on" so he can hit him hard on his weakest issue - Iraq. I say go for it - this is where Dumbya looks immoral, uncaring and like a really poor leader.

[quaoar]

15. Rove is already at work on the TV commercial

Voiceover: "John Kerry says America has no moral authority. It's the same thing he said in 1971 when he accused brave soldiers of being war criminals. Why does John Kerry hate America?"
In the background are images of Jane Fonda and Kofi Annan and the Eiffel Tower.

[Disturbed]

5. Foul stinkin' shit!

This is what the Neo Fascist have thrown at the world community.

Most US Govt.'s have been brutal to the people of other countries who's leaders wanted more social changes for the common people. History is repleat with US assistance, sometimes direct and other times indirect in crushing Socialist Govt.'s that were democraticaly elected. Haiti, Chile, Guatamala, Nicaraqua, Iran are some examples.

[Monte Carlo]

19. They'd feed off of anything, so what's the big deal?

If they don't have an actual quote, they'll just fall back upon B.S. and nurtured stereotypes.

I think it's very good for Kerry to sharpen his rhetoric this much. No one expects it.

[Rabelais]

10. how can you lose something you never had?

Kerry would be more accurate if he said "US has lost its self-perceived moral authority."

[Mr_Spock]

11. Well, after 9/11 and before Iraq...

We (not Bush, the USA) were regarded rather highly by the rest of the world before Dumbya took over - thank Clinton for that. After 9/11 we had a special opportunity to show how our special character as written by our great founding fathers. Unfortunately, we have a stupid, ignorant, easily manipulated fool in the WH who's destruction of the US reputation is modeled very well by the graph of the US deficit under Dumbya. What a total friggin' disaster this fool has presided over.

[Catfight]

12. Is Kerry making excuses for Bush why he shouldn't be in Sudan?

[maryallen]

13. Twisted logic ...

Had to bend over backwards to get that one.

Good for Kerry: We have lost our moral authority.

Keep it simple, folks.
Kerry said in very plain words what most of the world -- and most DU'ers -- has been saying for a long time.

[Thurston Howell IV]

16. Very possible Kerry will be jujitsued on this one

However true it is, if it is said in a way that can work against him, it isn't what he wants, is it?

"I actually voted for the bill before I voted against it."

It's the effect of the word or phrase that is more important in the context of an election less than 60 days away. After all, he's trying to communicate to hundreds of millions of people. He's not talking to us in our living room.

Kerry should keep on the attack, but needs to watch the implications of the phrasing. Americans want to feel good about themselves. Most people don't consciously support evil in the world.

[Monte Carlo]

18. No, he's not making excuses - we should be in the Sudan...

... but we are not because there's no financial interest for Bush in the Sudan. It's an example what's has caused us to lose our moral authority in the world.

[truthisfreedom]

14. more like bush has squandered our moral authority.

[Monte Carlo]

17. With things like Abu Ghraib, our 'intelligence failures', violations of...

... the Geneva conventions... no one is listening to the U.S. like they used to. And the man responsible for it is George W. Bush.